NC State Has Opportunity for Greek Court

Greek Court might be under going major redevelopment during the next few years if a proposal designed by the Greek Court Redevelopment Task Force is accepted.

According to a report released by the Greek Court Redevelopment Task Force, Chancellor James Oblinger created the Greek Court Redevelopment Task Force to transform greek court into "a more attractive and viable community."

Timothy Luckadoo, associate vice chancellor for student affairs, said each house will be independently designed.

"It will be completely up to the chapter," Luckadoo, a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, said. Harwood said the new court will be "a place for fledgling chapters" and will increase active participation in the community.

Charlie Leffler, vice chancellor, said the University plans to reconstruct the court over a period of years.

According to Luckadoo, the verdict on the redesign of Greek Court should be determined by June.

"If we don't know by June -- We [should] just pull the trigger on it," he said.

Tom Stafford, vice chancellor of student affairs, indicated he wanted to draw even more Greek organizations to the court while keeping the current fraternities and sororities in place.

Luckadoo said a major goal of the redevelopment is to prevent chapter houses from moving away from campus."

[With this plan] chapters will not be moving out into the city of Raleigh," Luckadoo said.

Harwood said he wants "a central communal spot" for Greek life. He said the plan allows for new facilities with the intention of creating that community."

[It will] really help to make the [court] more secure, more animated," he said. "What we have done is come up with a concept of a Greek village."

According to Luckadoo, the University of South Carolina's Greek community helped to inspire the new vision for N.C. State's Greek Court, although he said NCSU's Greek community "has more history and character to it." He said the task force visited USC's Greek Village in May 2006 to see the court in action.

The task force's report also stated that NCSU and its chapters will share the $10 million price tag of the redevelopment. Harwood said he didn't see the inclusion of the Greek organizations on the bill as "singling out the greek community."

"There will be a lot of flexibility for the chapters to maintain their own budget," he said.

Vocal support for the Greek Court redevelopment was evident throughout the meeting.

According to Luckadoo, the task force has received 17 letters from various chapters in support of the plans."There is a tremendous amount of interest," he said.

Chris Mangieri, Interfraternity Council president, said the task force has the support of all "800 fraternity men on this campus."

"We feel we can make this happen," Mangieri said.Fraternity members voiced their opinions on the project.Mangieri, a senior in biological sciences and member of Phi Gamma Delta, said the newly envisioned Greek Court will help NCSU become one of the best Greek systems in the nation."[The new court will] produce better leaders, better scholars and attract better students to this campus," he said.

Gregory Hunt, a former member of Kappa Sigma, said he wants the Greek Court to become something "the city of Raleigh will be proud of," and this plan "certainly fits the bill."